Ranking the Top 100-Plus College Football Programs: Inside the SEC

Which college football program can legitimately claim to be the best?

Think about it for a moment, and all the ways one could use in attempting to answer that question. Would it just be national championships? How about coaching prowess? Players in the NFL? Hall of Fame inductees? Major Awards? All-Americans? The list goes on and on. Perhaps that's the best thing about the sport, there's always room for debate because wins and losses never tell the whole story.

One of best indicators of success are the polls, which deservingly drawing criticism for having voting before a single game is played and then can be slow to adjust, But there's not too much complaining about the final poll held after every game has been completed.

Years ago, former Southeastern Conference assistant director of media relations Charles Woodruff came up with the idea creating a compiled ranking of every season-ending AP poll, based on the same methodology as the weekly rankings. Just like how each ballot was counted, with each week in the media-based poll based on points with the first-place team getting 25, the second team 24, and so on down, the all-time poll does likewise with each year's final results.

The SEC used to include the rankings in the back of the annual media guide back when it was trying to make the case that the conference was the best in the sport. Now there's pretty much no doubt, with only the Big Ten able to make a challenge. But I've continued to update the rankings each year going back to one my first books "Who's #1?: 100-Plus Years of Controversial National Champions in College Football."

With all that in mind, consider the following aspects:

• There's a new No. 1 this year as Ohio State jumped past Alabama with its latest national championship. However, the programs are so close that had the Crimson Tide won its bowl game it would still be in the top spot.

• When Nick Saban took over Alabama in 2007, the Crimson Tide was fifth on the all-time list. Michigan was actually at No. 1. When he stepped down at the end of the 2023 season, it was at No. 1, a status it subsequently lost after its first season without the coach.

• A great way to measure and compare conferences isn't by which teams are at the top, but at the middle. The "average" SEC program, eight out of 16, is Auburn at No. 15. , with Arkansas ninth at No. 21, just ahead of Texas A&M and Ole Miss. There are 11 SEC teams in the top 25. Meanwhile, the ninth team in the 18-program Big Ten, is Iowa at No. 26.

The following only reflects final Associated Press polls, and are updated through the 2024 season. SEC programs are bolded.

Specifics: The All-Time Associated Press Poll was originally compiled and organized by Charles Woodroof, former SEC Assistant Director of Media Relations. The AP (Writers and Broadcasters) Poll began in 1936. From 1936 to 1961 the wire service ranked 20 teams. From 1962 to 1967 only 10 teams were recognized. From 1968 to 1988 AP again resumed its Top 20 before expanding to 25 teams in 1989. Points were awarded based on a team’s finish in the final AP poll each year. Points were awarded on a 20-19-18- 17-16-15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis from 1936 to 1988, and a 25-24-23-22-21-20-19-18-17-16-15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5- 4-3-2-1 basis 1989 to the present.

Inside the SEC appears every week.